Arjen Lubach is critical of Twan Huys’ plan to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin in his College Tour program. “It fits better in the Buitenhof setting.”
Twan Huys’ intention to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to his College Tour program is met with incomprehension among TV colleague Arjen Lubach. He wonders whether this talk show with students is a suitable stage to interrogate Putin, since everything in that program quickly resembles a kind of hero worship.
Putin, Dolly and the Pope
Twan really wants Putin. When asked who is at the top of his list of coveted interview guests for College Tour, the presenter in The Evening Show with Arjen Lubach answers: “Yes, that is always difficult, but President Putin, Dolly Parton and the Pope.”
A remarkable answer, Arjen thinks. “Putin? But Putin is controversial. We all know that you once had Holleeder as a guest where there was a lot to do, but I also thought somewhere that they must be examples.”
Collective interview
Twan understands Arjen’s comment. “Of course it is. Imagine if he would want to do it… My faith after fifteen years of College Tour, myself and the strength of the students… The students who come to our program… I am always amazed at how well they speak English, how sharp their questions are and it is becoming more and more international.”
He continues: “We had a tape yesterday with CNN’s war correspondent Clarissa Ward, one of the bravest women in the field right now. The hall is full of Dutch students, but also from Ukraine and Egypt. I think the collective interview in College Tour yields much more than a one-on-one interview.”
‘We all want’
Arjen: “You are a bit digressive about whether you would have any trouble with Putin.”
Twan: “Yesterday I put that question to Clarissa Ward and that was a funny moment. I said, ‘Imagine the station calls and you can interview Putin, would you do it and what would your first question be?’ Journalists, and I am one of them, of course all want to speak to the people who matter in the news and so is Putin.”
Buitenhof
Arjen thinks it’s better to put such a Putin in Buitenhof. “I get it, I’m just thinking more about the setting. I would imagine it more in Buitenhof or something, in a kind of chilly setting. A standing ovation from Putin from 600 students seems so strange to me.”
Twan: “We wouldn’t do that.”
Arjen: “Yes, that would stop you? ‘Sit down motherfuckers!’”
